The curtain is about to come down on another Jets season, and instead of looking back to 2024, it’s time to look forward to 2025. 

Top of the offseason priority list is identifying new hires at general manager and head coach. The Jets have already started their interview process and after taking a look at some of the things I’d like to see from the new GM, it’s time to turn our focus to the head coach role. 

This week, the team confirmed that they have conducted an interview with Ron Rivera for the position and former Jets head coach Rex Ryan has made it clear that he’d like to be under consideration. 

NFL rules limit the interview process for hiring teams at this stage of the season, but personnel from teams who will receive a first round bye will be able to hold online interviews. 

During the NFL spring meetings, it was decided that interviews with coaches who are in the playoffs can last a maximum of 3 hours, and the time for the interview needs to be agreed with the coaches current employer so as not to interfere with game preparation. 

So with all that said, the Jets are at the very start of this process. 

There are no indications on whether the team will look to hire a general manager first, but we can take solace in the fact that the process is underway and it’ll be exhaustive in order to find the right candidates to take this team forward. 

Any head coach stepping into the role will have plenty to work with. It’s not often an opening appears where the offensive line is largely settled, the team has a young star receiver and running back, a star corner and three key pieces on the defensive line as well as multiple talented linebackers. 

So what kind of coach should the Jets be looking for? 

Leadership

I think sometimes we can get far too caught up with whether the man in charge is an offensive or defensive minded head coach. In reality, that really shouldn’t matter because once you’re hired as a head coach you’re hired to lead the entire roster, not just one side of the ball. The head coach needs to set the tone, create the foundation for the success and actively maintain a culture that leads to consistent winning. 

Some of the top coaches in the NFL don’t call plays on either side of the ball and personally I think that’s beneficial for a team who are looking to form an identity across the board. Play-calling on one side of the ball can draw too much of the head coach’s attention and having trusted coordinators doing the job leads to accountability. Dan Campbell doesn’t call plays in Detroit, although he’s done so in the past, and there is probably no hotter coach in football right now than Dan Campbell.

Is prior experience necessary? 

When you make certain decisions and they don’t work out, it’s natural to want to do a 180 for the next hire. If your previous head coach was a defensive guy, then some will be adamant the next head coach needs to be an offensive guy. If the last guy was a first-time head coach, then some will be adamant that the next man up needs to have experience. I think that’s a dangerous way to look at things and can lead you into making bad choices based on rigid guidelines. 

Dan Campbell had only ever been in interim charge for a short period before Detroit, Kevin O’Connell was a first-time head coach in Minnesota, plus Matt LaFleur, Sean McVay, Sean McDermott and even someone like Mike Tomlin were all first-time head coaches in their respective positions. If there is an Andy Reid out there then you go and get him but handing over the keys based solely on experience is a mistake. 

For me, having experience within the NFL is important and most head coaches come from the coordinator position, but having previous head coaching experience is not the silver bullet that some people make it out to be. 

Clear Vision & Communication

When Kevin O’Connell took over as the Minnesota Vikings head coach he had a clear vision, and I remember reading an article about how he would clearly communicate difficult concepts that made them easy to absorb and utilise. He calls it “dot-connecting”: tying things together with certain words all relating to the same theme. For the Vikings that can be sports cars, big cats etc. Having that clear vision of what you want your team to stand for and how you want them to operate is vital. 

Sticking with O’Connell because as a former Jet I’ve enjoyed following his career; he’s always been open to two-way communication. If players want to change the way they attack it then he’ll do that, as he explained in an article on The Athletic: 

“I’m not the one out there running the play,” O’Connell said. “If it doesn’t infringe upon the play-caller’s intent or the design of the play, ‘It’s yours, guys.’ I think that there is power in that, in this day and age … when they feel like they are a voice at the table, not just someone being talked to.”

It may seem overly simplistic to say the new coach needs a clear vision and communication, but I think many hires have failed when the individual either doesn’t have that set vision and instead has a lot of borrowed concepts, or the system is too convoluted to operate at a high level. 

Final Thoughts

Hiring a head coach is a difficult job. Not every coach will have the same impact in every single environment and there are no hard and fast rules for how to get this right. But if you can find someone who has an aura of leadership while having elite communication with a clear vision then you’re on the right track. 

Let the exhaustive search commence.